Shawn Stroke (5,250,000 -- 35 BBs)
Shawn Stroke, a 31-year-old recreational player from Long Island, New York, has put together a pretty strong run of cashes in the online bracelet events, a unique opportunity for those on the East Coast which he's taken advantage of over the years.
Stroke had a near miss on a bracelet in 2017, when he got second to William Reymond in the $365 online bracelet event for a score of $94K. He then cashed three more online bracelet events in 2019 for a total of more than $10K. While this summer's series wasn't as lucrative as he had just two small cashes, Stroke has certainly shown his comfort in the big online WSOP events.
As the second stack coming into this 2020 final table, he's already locked up his biggest score ever, one that dwarfs even his total live cashes of $68K according to HendonMob.
The mechanic has come a long way since losing his brother's bankroll as an underage player back in the day, and he's soaking it all in ahead of the biggest final table of his life.
“Feels nothing less than amazing, taking it all in each day,” he said of making it to poker’s biggest stage. “I wake up and remind myself that this is real and envision myself hoisting that WSOP bracelet.”